A single senator can slow proceedings to a crawl

Published 10:00 pm, Sunday, May 22, 2005

WASHINGTON -- Democrats are outnumbered in the Senate by Republicans 55-45.

But they are not without power in an institution designed so that a single senator can slow proceedings to a crawl.

If Republicans take away the filibuster for judicial nominees, Democrats can make life difficult in many ways. The list below ranks the most commonly mentioned tools from mildly annoying to outright infuriating. It is far from complete.

Senate rules allow committees to meet for only two hours while the Senate is in session. Because the Senate convenes at 9:30 most mornings, committees must shut down at 11:30 unless there is unanimous consent to waive the rule. That threshold is routinely met, and it is important because most committees start work around 10 a.m. and work can last four hours or more. If a single senator objects, committees must shut down. One way of getting around the problem is to start committees earlier in the day and push back the Senate's starting time. But senators are creatures of habit and are loath to tamper with the makeup of a normal day.

Republican and Democratic leaders often agree to pass non-controversial measures by unanimous consent. This is an advantage because it allows one of two senators on the floor to speak for the entire body. It means senators don't actually have to come to the Senate floor to vote. But if one senator says, "no" to the unanimous consent request a recorded vote must be held. That means every senator must physically come to the floor to vote, a process that can take anywhere from 30 minutes to nearly an hour. It also opens the bill to amendments, which, depending on how difficult a senator wants to be, can add hours to the process.

Senate rules also require that every amendment be read aloud before it is considered on the floor. This almost never happens because the requirement is waived by unanimous consent. But, if a single senator objects, an amendment must be read in its entirety. Some bills have dozens of amendments and as one Senate aide noted, a senator "can offer the phone book as a amendment if he wants." It doesn't take many amendments, then, to seriously slow things down.